Michael Donald Edwards...signed by Cleveland scout Robert Mayer...graduated from
Mechanicsburg (PA) High School.
2006
Attended Spring Training as a non-roster invitee with Pittsburgh...Began season with Triple-A Indianapolis...Went 0-for-4 in Indians debut before hitting safely in five straight games from 4/7-12 (6-for-15, .400)...Homered on 4/7 at Pawtucket (his first hit of the year)...Made three appearances in right field and four as the designated hitter before having contract purchased by Pittsburgh on 4/15...Made Pirates debut on 4/16 vs. Chicago and singled as a pinch-hitter off Roberto Novoa...Made first start on 4/19 at third base and hitless in three at-bats...Also singled as a pinch-hitter on 4/30 vs. Philadelphia...Was optioned back to Indianapolis on 5/3...Went 3-for-31 (.097) in eight games with the Indians before being recalled by Pittsburgh a second time on 5/14...Went 0-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt in five pinch-hitting appearances with the Pirates before being optioned to Triple-A on 5/29...Hit second home run with Indianapolis on 6/15 at Rochester...Went 4-for-4 on 6/25 vs. Richmond, raising batting average to .222, the first time it was above .200 since 5/4...Was recalled again by Pittsburgh on 6/29...Made second start at third base on 6/30 vs. Detroit and went 0-for-4 with a run scored...Made last appearance with the Pirates on 7/1 vs. Detroit and singled as a pinch-hitter...Was optioned to Indy on 7/2...Hit safely in nine straight games from 7/16-24 (12-for-32, .375)...Batted .324 in 27 games during the month of August which included a 15-game hitting streak from 8/5-19 (22-for-57, .386)...Streak was snapped when he struck out as a pinch-hitter on 8/20...Made total of 36 appearances in left field, 26 at third base, seven in right field, six at first base and three in center field while playing with Indianapolis...Also batted .222 (10-for-45) in 13 games as the designated hitter...Was removed from 40-man roster on 10/5.
2005
Came to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee and had his contract
purchased on May 4 from Triple-A Las Vegas...appeared in 88 games for
the Dodgers over two stints, marking the first time he had seen
extensive action in the Major Leagues, as he entered the year with four at-bats
of big league experience...made 33 starts at third base, 27 in left field and one in right field...went 6-for-16 (.375) as a pinch-hitter, tying him for the fourth-best mark
among all National Leaguers with 15 or more pinch-hit at-bats...at the time he had his contract purchased from Las Vegas, was batting
.284 with three homers and 17 RBIs in 21 games...was optioned back to
Las Vegas on Aug. 10 and recalled by the Dodgers on Aug. 25...finished
the season batting .280 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 32 games for the
51s.
2004
Spent the season at Triple-A Sacramento and batted .287 with 13 homers and 81 RBI in 140
games...batted .312 (82-for-279) on the road in the PCL...appeared in 88 games at third base, 42 games in left
field, 13 games in right field and one game at shortstop for the Rivercats...had a career-high 41 doubles and
drew 76 walks, the most since tallying 93 free passes for Single-A Kinston in 1999.
2003
Spent the entire regular season at Triple-A Sacramento but was brought up to Oakland on September 14 after the River Cats won the Pacific Coast League Championship...made his Major League debut on September 20 against Seattle after nine seasons and 865 games in the minors...struck out as a pinch hitter against Arthur Rhodes...recorded his first major league hit on September 24 against Texas, an eighth inning single off Aaron Fultz...was 1 for 4 with two walks in four games with the A's...hit .298 with 14 home runs and 95 RBI in 125 games at Sacramento...the RBI were a career high and he matched his professional best with four triples...added 60 walks for a .387 on-base percentage...now has a .294 batting average and a .387 on-base percentage in his minor league career...finished second in the PCL in RBI to teammate Graham Koonce (115)...ranked third in the A's farm system in RBI and fifth in batting...batted .429 (42 for 98) with four of his 14 home runs against left handed pitchers and hit .260 (88 for 338) against right handers...average improved to .381 (51 for 134) with runners in scoring position, including .410 (25 for 61) with RISP and two outs...was 8 for 17 (.571) with the bases loaded...hit in every spot in the order except ninth and saw most of his action hitting fifth (52 for 144, .361) and sixth (37 for 137, .276)...appeared in 71 games in left field, 22 in right field, 22 at designated hitter, eight in center field, three at third base and two at shortstop...batted .364 in the month of April and had a season high four hits on May 3 at Memphis...added two hits and had his second of three four-RBI games the next day to put his average at .384 (28 for 73)...then went 10 for 62 (.161) over his next 16 games which dropped his average to .281 on May 22...had just two home runs and 19 RBI over his first 41 games through May 22 but then belted 12 home runs and drove in 76 runs over his final 84 games...went 27 for 64 (.422) with three home runs and 20 RBI over an 18-game stretch from May 25 to June 14 to boost his average to .327...had four RBI on June 10 at Salt Lake and then had a grand slam and a season high six RBI in an 8-6 win over Edmonton on June 13...finished the month of June with a .364 (28 for 77) batting average and 22 RBI in 22 games...drove in at least one run in eight consecutive games from June 29 to July 6 (13 RBI total)...had five RBI on July 27 against Iowa but hit just .200 (20 for 100) in July...then went on to hit .336 (36 for 107) with five home runs and 28 RBI in 29 games in August...hit the game winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning in a 7-6 win over Tacoma on August 3...had a season high tying eight-game hitting streak from August 12 to 18 (14 for 35, .400) and had 13 RBI during the streak...then batted .308 (8 for 26) with a triple and no RBI in six playoff games for Sacramento.
2002
Was named to the Southern League Post-Season All-Star team as an outfielder after batting .307 with 11 home runs, 60 RBI and a .377 on-base percentage in 119 games at Double-A Chattanooga in the Cincinnati organization...ranked fifth in the SL in batting and was promoted to Triple-A Louisville on August 16...hit .404 in 15 games with the Riverbats and batted a combined .318 (153 for 481) with 13 home runs and 68 RBI in 134 games...the batting average tied for the ninth best mark among all minor league outfielders and it was third best in the Reds farm system...added 47 walks and 10 hit by pitches for a .387 on-base percentage...has a .294 career batting average and .387 on-base percentage in 740 games in eight seasons in the minors...had a career high 153 hits and 10 hit by pitches and his 13 home runs were second only to his career high 16 in 1999...appeared in 64 games in right field, 48 at first base, 18 at third base, one in left field and pitched once...batted in every spot in the order except leadoff and saw his most at bats in the six spot (48 for 169, .284)...led Chattanooga in hit by pitches (10) and grounded into double plays (19) and finished second in hits (130) and on-base percentage (.377)...started slowly as he was hitting just .227 (22 for 97) over his first 26 games through May 2...then posted back-to-back four hit games against Mobile on May 3 and 4...ended up batting .343 (35 for 102) in 28 games in May, boosting his average to a then season high .291 at the end of the month...started June by going 7 for 39 (.179) over his first 15 games but then put together a 20-game hitting streak from June 21 to July 13...hit .402 (33 for 82) during the streak and earned Southern League Player of the Week honors on consecutive weeks: June 28-July 4 and July 5-11...had four home runs and 14 RBI over a 12-game span from July 6 to 19 and hit six of his 11 home runs with Chattanooga in July...batted .333 (34 for 102) with 18 RBI in 28 games in July...had a 10-game hitting streak from July 28 to August 7 (14 for 36, .389)...hit a three-run home run in the top of the 18th inning on August 6 in an 8-7 win over Huntsville...moved up to Louisville on August 16 and hit safely in all 15 games (23 for 57 (.404)...made his first career pitching appearance on August 19 against Columbus and took the loss (1.1 ip, 3 h, 3 r, 3 er, 1 bb, 1 so, 1 hr).
Career:1995>/b>-spent his first professional season at Burlington of the Rookie Appalachian League and hit .169 with no home runs and five RBI in 43 games...appeared in 42 games at shortstop. 1996-spent his second consecutive season at Burlington and hit .282 with a home run and 17 RBI in 58 games...ranked fourth in the Appalachian League in strikeouts per plate appearances (1 per 9.69)...appeared in 40 games at third base and three at shortstop. 1997-completed his third professional season at Burlington and hit .288 with four home runs and 41 RBI in 60 games...led his team in hits (68)...homered twice on July 12 against Johnson City...appeared in 46 games at third base, three at first base and one each at shortstop and in the outfield. 1998-batted .294 with eight home runs and 81 RBI in 124 games at Single-A Columbus...the batting average tied for eighth best in the Cleveland farm system and the RBI were third best...had career highs in at bats (497), runs (82), doubles (34), triples (4, tie) and stolen bases (16)...his double total ranked fifth in the South Atlantic League...led Columbus in batting, at bats, hits (146), doubles, RBI and on-base percentage (.379)...had a 24-game hitting streak from June 25 to July 23...hit .420 (42 for 100) with two home runs and 24 RBI during the streak which tied a Columbus team record...it tied for the sixth longest streak in the minors all year...appeared in 114 games at third base and three at first base. 1999-batted .289 and posted career highs with 16 home runs and 89 RBI in 133 games at Single-A Kinston...was seventh in the Cleveland farm system in batting and tied for second in RBI...added career highs in triples (4, tie), walks (93) and strikeouts (117)...led the Carolina League with a .413 on-base percentage...also ranked second in the league in walks, third in RBI, tied for third in games played and tied for eighth in batting...was a Carolina League All-Star at third base...led Kinston in batting, slugging (.467), on-base percentage, home runs, RBI, walks and total bases (213) and tied for the team lead in hits...was named CL Player of the Week for the week of April 29 to May 5 and May 20 to 26...had a season high five RBI on May 28 vs. Potomac...finished May with 35 RBI which was third best in the minors...went 1 for 12 (.083) with a walk in three playoff games. 2000-made his Double-A debut at Akron and hit .295 with 11 HR and 63 RBI in a career high 136 games...ranked seventh in the Cleveland farm system in batting...led Akron in runs scored (72), hits (142), total bases (204), RBI and walks (68)...batted .232 (35 for 151) against left handed pitching and .324 (107 for 330) with all 11 of his home runs against right handed pitchers...appeared in 131 games at third base...had a season high 16-game hitting streak from April 18 to May 6 during which he batted .377 (23 for 61) with one home run and 10 RBI. 2001-batted a combined .340 with 12 HR and 49 RBI in 52 games between Single-A Mahoning Valley, Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo...did not make his season debut until June 28 with Mahoning Valley due to a right knee injury...batted .366 with 6 HR and 24 RBI in 20 games with Mahoning Valley...belted a pair of homers with four RBI on June 30 vs. Jamestown...had one of the finest games of any minor leaguer in 2001 when he went 3 for 4 with four runs, three home runs, 10 RBI and a walk on July 24 against Oneonta...had a season high 11-game hitting streak from July 20 to 31 during which he batted .455 (20 for 44) with four home runs and 18 RBI...was promoted to Akron on August 3 and batted .333 with 6 HR and 24 RBI in 29 games with the Aeros...went 4 for 4 with four runs, a double, two homers, six RBI and a walk in the first game of a doubleheader on August 17 at Bowie...was promoted to Buffalo on September 1 and batted .222 (2 for 9) with one RBI in three games with the Bisons in his first career appearance at the Triple-A Level.
